The future, the past, and everything in between: reflections on the JobG8 Summit

There ought to be a law against holding the Jobg8 Summit in Atlanta in late June – or at least, if you’re going to do so, let’s have everyone run at half-speed, ok? Free BBQ would be good, too.

But in fact, the Jobg8 Summit managed to push through the heat and humidity, and in the process I learned a little and networked a lot. Par for the typical conference. So what exactly happened, and what did I learn?:

• It wasn’t a surprise, but Tony Gregoire of Staffing Industry Analysts said that job boards continue to provide the biggest recruiting bang for the buck
• Companies continue to outsource – which makes me wonder, where will it stop? (and by the way, the global temp staffing market is $345 billion. Yep, you read that right).
• I could happily listen to Louise Grant read the phone book – I’m a sucker for a British accent, what can I say? Cheeky.
• Jenny DeVaughan of ADP said predictive analytics are the wave of the future.
• Matt Charney made me spit my water when he tweeted “Every time you make a sweeping stereotype about “millennials,” God kills a kitten”. I did not know he was religious…
• Job board resumes are perceived as being out of date – as compared to profiles on LinkedIn
• It’s not clear why middleware hasn’t been more of a player between job boards and ATSs (but SimpleAPI may remedy that).
• “ATSs aren’t moving into the job board world – job boards are moving into the ATS world” (from the ATS panel discussion).
• Reworks do actually make a difference – CorridorCareers saw a 74% increase in page views after theirs.
• The 1st session of the 2nd day of a conference has to be the worst slot for a speaker.
• Having a content strategy – and then executing on it – is the difference between mediocre results and success.
• Having outside advisors or a board can make a huge difference for the average job board (and I mean in a positive way).
• Building your job board’s brand is one of the most effective ways to compete against larger (or better funded) competitors.
• Slipping in a quick drink (as in alcoholic) break before the last panel is not a good idea if you want people to return to the room afterwards.
• The money is still flowing in the job board world – and it seemed like at least a few owners were willing to sell.

The networking was great (I’ve just now regained my voice) and attendance seemed up from last year. Next year at the Jobg8 Summit? I plan to be there.

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